I'm puzzled

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

My cars live outside. My stuff is in the garage. My stuff will ruin in the weather. My car will only age. My stuff will walk off if left outside. I have had 3 vehicles walk off but I did get a little money back for them each time. The stuff that has walked off several times has never reached the deductible but has totaled more than I lost on the vehicles.

My situation is it is better for my stuff to be inside out of the weather and out of sight from those whom believe they deserve it more than me.

I have never had a car walk off but lost a nice 5x7 trailer that was in a unlocked barn, I'm a advocate of locking everything now, if it doesn't have a lock on it, it just vanishes into thin air. It's a shame, I can work my tail off to have nice things but it seems if you don't have things locked down someone is to sell it for scrap or where ever it goes.

 

[Bird]

My cars live outside. My stuff is in the garage. My stuff will ruin in the weather. My car will only age. My stuff will walk off if left outside. I have had 3 vehicles walk off but I did get a little money back for them each time. The stuff that has walked off several times has never reached the deductible but has totaled more than I lost on the vehicles.

My situation is it is better for my stuff to be inside out of the weather and out of sight from those whom believe they deserve it more than me.

I can understand that. In fact, I've been there. The first house we bought had a one car garage with a workbench already built across the front that made the garage too short, or shallow, to even put one car in. Some years later, in a newer house, I had a boat and motorcycle in the garage which left no room for my car.:laughing: And now . . . I know of many people who have their "stuff" in the garage when that "stuff" isn't worth saving.:laughing: However, at the present time, I consider myself quite lucky because we not only have a 2 car garage and park two vehicles in it, but we have an unusual house in that when you go out the back door, 12' across the patio, and into a 21' x 25' "shop" building, all under one roof. And then we have an 8' x 12' garden tool storage building in the backyard.

 

[two_bit_score]

I can understand that. In fact, I've been there. The first house we bought had a one car garage with a workbench already built across the front that made the garage too short, or shallow, to even put one car in. Some years later, in a newer house, I had a boat and motorcycle in the garage which left no room for my car.:laughing: And now . . . I know of many people who have their "stuff" in the garage when that "stuff" isn't worth saving.:laughing: However, at the present time, I consider myself quite lucky because we not only have a 2 car garage and park two vehicles in it, but we have an unusual house in that when you go out the back door, 12' across the patio, and into a 21' x 25' "shop" building, all under one roof. And then we have an 8' x 12' garden tool storage building in the backyard.

Though "stuff" seems to expand to occupy whatever space is available. especially when the "stuff" belongs to the DW.

I know first hand

 

[MossRoad]

I watch very closely that I'm not paying more in taxes than my neighbors, but I am due to my age and marital status. I'm a white single male so I get hammered lol, most of my neighbors are the original builders of the neighborhood, I'm the second.

So they get more discounts than I do because there on a fixed budget and retired. I believe it's called homestead discount or something like that which is fair, I have no probs paying my dues, I like the idea that retired folks get a tax break.

Homestead I think is only like 2.5% or something like that.

That bring said my tractor is happy parked in the barn lol. I don't drive my 1981 F150 (my truck) in the salt and was thinking about squeezing it in a lean to, usually it sits in the spot my tractor sits during the winter, I have to move the lawn mover and some stuff to the barn to park my DD in the attached garage. I need to rearrange lol, snow is projected in 4 days and it's projected 6-8 inches. WHICH I CAN CLEAR WITH THE TRACTOR lol so excited.

Giving select individuals preferential treatment on something as basic as property taxes is what caused this mess in the first place, here. For example, we own our home outright, no mortgage. Taxes would be about $1200 per year. We took out a home equity loan, which counts as a mortgage. We get a homestead credit for mortgage exemption, which knocks our taxes down to about $500 per year. The most we've ever paid in interest on the equity loan is about $350 per year. We've purchased our tractor, car hauler trailer to tow the tractor, a used car, some major home remodeling, etc... on that loan and the tax savings has paid the interest and left about $350 in our pockets each year. Its ridiculous.

We encourage people to own their own homes, yet we tax them higher if they do. :confused3:

 

[MossRoad]

Back on track, i drive by a house everyday where there is a storage building with lean to on the side with an old aluminum boat under it.
Ten feet away sit's a nice Harley out in the weather:confused3:

Ronnie

The boat leaks....

 

[TomSeller]

So, I wait to see if the county commissioners force the county auditor to give up the database to the consultant to see who's paying lower taxes than they should be.

Interesting. Fortunately ours are on line, you can look anyone's taxes up on a interactive map.

Google picture, not sure where it is from but I suspect that species of hog has gone feral and is showing up in every county.

 

[MossRoad]

Interesting. Fortunately ours are on line, you can look anyone's taxes up on a interactive map.

Google picture, not sure where it is from but I suspect that species of hog has gone feral and is showing up in every county.

Sure, you can look them up. But you can't see who, why, or when someone authorized the lowered rate on the identical property right next door to you, only that it is lower.

From this article...
Study on property taxes hits snag with St. Joseph County assessor | Local | southbendtribune.com

"Land values in the same commercial neighborhoods are supposed to be calculated in the same manner for different property types, Castellon said. But enFocus found numerous inconsistencies with values.

The values appear to have been manually changed in an inappropriate way without any documentation. Those changes trace back to before 2007, when there was a different township assessor.

Castellon illustrated the problem by comparing a pair of fast-food restaurants on McKinley Avenue that neighbor each other on one-acre parcels. Burger King's parcel has a land value of $111,300, but Taco Bell's parcel has a land value of $166,950.

That is because land values were calculated using different "base rates", Castellon said. In the case of the Burger King parcel, the rate was manually changed for an inexplicable reason. That's why the land value is lower than Taco Bell's."

And the auditor is fighting it saying she can do the job in-house VS hiring the consultant.... yeah.... get a third set of eyes in there quick.

 

[TomSeller]

Sure, you can look them up. But you can't see who, why, or when someone authorized the lowered rate on the identical property right next door to you, only that it is lower.
.

Well it would seem to me that the auditor is responsible for equitable assessments, regardless of who, why or when the adjustments were made. I'd say that is why they call them an "auditor". Is this an elected position?

 

[MossRoad]

Well it would seem to me that the auditor is responsible for equitable assessments, regardless of who, why or when the adjustments were made. I'd say that is why they call them an "auditor". Is this an elected position?

Of course the auditor is responsible. And she's elected. And she's a party toadie. And pretty much everyone with lower assessments will be of the same party. That's why she's fighting it.

 

[KennyG]

If you have property in a large city, the assessment process becomes even more questionable. I have a condo in a large city and when it is reassessed, the association hires a politically connected lawyer to appeal it and the assessment is significantly reduced. We pay the lawyer, the lawyer makes campaign donations and the assessment is reduced. Nothing illegal about that. :confused2: